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When Will Revolution Reveal Reason Behind the Blackout? Boss Eric Kripke Tells All

Revolutioncreator Eric Kirpke was surprisingly candid during a recent conference call with journalists, revealing much about what viewers can expect of the drama's future. The showrunner opened up about the reasoning behind last Monday's death, Grace's return and when we'll find out why the power went out! (It's sooner than you might think.) Here are six juicy teases. [Spoilers ahead]

1. Maggie's death ushers in a new sense of dangerLast week, Revolution killed off one of the series' most interesting characters, Maggie (Anna Lise Philips). The heart-wrenching death was a shock to a lot of viewers, who didn't expect to lose the doctor so soon. But if you find yourself missing Mags, you aren't the only one. "I sort of have a bad habit in the shows that I run of killing off the people that I love and I think Maggie was one of those," Kripke told reporters.

The showrunner explained that Maggie's death was unfortunately necessary "to show that this world had very real stakes ... and we very quickly realized the scariest thing we could do was to kill the doctor among them." Kripke added, "We want the audience to really understand that nobody is safe, including the main characters." But don't get too excited, people. It's unlikely that Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) will be biting the dust any time soon.

2. The secret behind the blackout will be revealed soonAccording to Kripke, the writers are currently in discussions to reveal the reason the lights went out by the end of the first season. "That's sort of my philosophy about not being too precious with anything. So we may reveal the secret sooner than later," Kripke said. "I just know that, for me, the longer you drag out an answer, the more pressure there is that that answer is the greatest answer ever given in the history of man. And frankly, I'm just not that smart." The showrunner also hinted that learning whatever caused the blackout will lead to an ever bigger — and scarier! — mystery.

But until the blackout's cause is revealed, Kripke said to keep your eyes peeled: "You should look for clues everywhere," he hinted. And that includes the shot of the blackout spreading across the Earth in the pilot, which Kripke said is "an accurate representation" of whatever turned the lights off.

3. Episode 10 is not one to be missedCharlie and the gang will (finally) catch up to her brother Danny (Graham Rogers) in the 10th episode. And after weeks of the same cat-and-mouse game, the showrunner promises the siblings' reunion will shake up the series, leading to a story much bigger than simply a rescue mission. "I would say by Episode 10, we will have played the prologue [of getting Danny back] and it's time to begin the next chapter of the show," Kripke said. "It's time to explore much more why the show is in fact titled Revolution." Any thoughts on what he might mean by that?

Besides the Charlie and Danny reunion, Episode 10 will also feature the anticipated reunion between Miles (Billy Burke) and General Monroe (David Lyons). While we've seen flashbacks of the pair together, everything has changed since then, creating a "tragic, emotional, Cain and Abel" relationship between the former besties. "They confront each other for the first time in years," Kripke explained. "They still really love each other and when they see each other, they're not really sure whether they're going to kill each other or hug each other."4. Grace will be back — and soon!Grace (Maria Howell), the mysterious woman to whom Kripke hinted is at the center of Revolution's mythology, will reappear in Episode 7, along with her kidnapper Randall. "She is under duress with this character Randall and she's in a dangerous position now," Kripke said. He also teased that the pairs' story line will play a major part in the second half of the season.

5. Kripke has a very strange definition of "glamorous"Wanna hear something scary? According to Kripke, Revolution actually glamorizes life without electricity. "I think what would actually happen in the result of a global blackout would be much harrier than even what we're depicting," he said. "We're really precariously balanced as a society and if you pull that rug out from under us things would get bad really quickly." We'll get to see more of Revolution's "glamorous" depiction of the post-electric world in Episode 6, when we get our first glimpse of organized crime.

6. What to expect of the upcoming fifth episode, "Soul Train"Monday's episode will explore Capt. Neville's (Giancarlo Esposito) backstory and his "character, who before the blackout was pretty mild-mannered and maybe a little submissive, and how [he transformed] into the violent psychopath that he is today," Kripke explained. This close look at Neville will also include the introduction of his wife, Julia, played by Grey's Anatomy's Kim Raver. "We're planting Kim now and we're going to meet her in the present day and really explore her character a couple episodes down the line [in Episode 8]. We're going to see how a very normal, suburban wife before the blackout ... transformed into Lady Macbeth [post-blackout]."

Also, expect some big changes for Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) when Danny arrives in Philadelphia. "General Monroe has Rachel where he wants her," Kripke said. "She doesn't really care about her own well-being, but of course, she cares about the well-being of her son. So he's really able to twist her arm and force her to reveal things" that she's been holding on to. And whatever secrets Rachel's been keeping must be pretty bad, because when the whole truth eventually comes out "it will be pretty explosive for Charlie to hear."Not more secrets! How many mysteries can one woman have? At least this week we'll hopefully be getting more answers than questions from the Matheson matriarch — potentially even a bit about why the lights went out!Revolution airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.